Bligh Reef Lagoon Explorer 24 Sept 2011:
Alex- Fly fishing mania today, starting it off with a nice jack and cod from the snags then some little trevally and queenfish. The afternoon was the most fun we found some nice little sand cays and raised quite a few GTs and teased them up nicely to smash the teaser then the fly, only to pull the hook twice but it was unreal to see the fish smashing flies in the crystal clear shore break. From there it was back to the anchorage for a few drinks and a swim at the island anchorage, I love this part of the world.
Glanville:- we have a group of fly anglers from America with us for this trip so we decided to try our luck in the mangrove creeks before we went out to the reef the guys managed to get a couple of jacks out of the snags which proved to be quite a challenge and we did see one barra but unfortunately he never hooked up, once the tide got too low we headed out to some sandy flats to see what we could find in the shallows and we seemed to time the tide just perfectly, as the tide started washing into the shallows we manged to sight cast to a 20kg GT which mowed down the fly in ankle deep water the fish had to swim on its side to get in the flats unreal sight and as the fish got into the backing the hooks pulled, shortly after I spotted another one which I teased right to our feet but the fish was that obsessed with the ice cream it didn't want a bar of anything else...should be an interesting day at the reef tomorrow
Clint: It's very exciting to go to locations that are so far off the beaten track to chase fish and this morning we found ourselves on the coastline fishing a river system miles away from anywhere. The guys are very keen fly anglers whom I am always stoked to guide. The first drain we hit we got a nice mangrove jack on a pink thing and as usual it was not an easy fight amongst the snags. And just around the corner Ian hooked into his first ever barra and boy was he happy to come all the way from the USA and to catch one of our great sport fish. We travelled around the system and the guys lapped up the scenery and managed to get another nice mangrove jack. In the arvo we moved out to an isolated reef in the blue water and we ended up on an awesome sandspit point fish just had to move past here. Ian and Scott fished with little clousers and had plenty of fun catching golden trevally, GTs and a spangled empereor from the shore. The day was finished off with a great relaxing dinner on a remote island beach with the clients.
John Dory:- What a way to start the week, the guys were casting flies on the flats in an area that has possibly never seen a fly before after raising one and catching a few smaller trevors we ventured further into the estuary to try our luck, we raised plenty of fish but had no luck sticking the hooks, after catching a nice Mangrove Jack and a smaller one we decided to head to the islands for some exploring, what an amazing place to fish sandy beaches surrounded by coral reefs the sight casting opportunities were amazing a few more trevally that afternoon to top off an excellent day on the water cheers
